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BANGALORE: iGate's ousted CEO Phaneesh Murthy , who has been charged with sexually harassing the company's 31-yearold investor relations head Araceli Roiz, may end up paying huge damages if charges pressed by her are proven under US law.

In India, proven sexual offences are liable for criminal punishment and not necessarily a monetary payout. But in the US, the focus is on monetary damages, which can be punishing, and pushes the accused to settle the matter out of court.

"If proved, US courts could grant damages that may extend to several million dollars. The legal notice typically levies extensive charges and claims high damages, hoping the accused would be pressurized for an out-of-court settlement ," said Vikram Shroff, head (HR law) in law firm Nishith Desai Associates . Sajai Singh, partner in law firm J Sagar Associates, said it would be difficult to say what kind of settlement might happen. "It will take into account a number of elements including the pregnancy, the length of litigation , and the lawyer's fees," he said. Roiz is said to be pregnant with Murthy's child. Ajay Raghavan, partner for labour and employment in law firm Trilegal, said that for someone who was accused of harassment, there usually was no significant upside to fight the case unless the accused had strong grounds to prove the alleged victim's claim was frivolous.

He noted that the jury system in the US could sometimes be more than generous in awarding damages on various grounds including mental trauma and loss of opportunity. "This motivates people to approach courts, unlike in India where people try to avoid going to courts," he said.

But for the same reason, the accused prefer to settle matters out of court.

Litigations are often primarily against the company , though it may include the accused individual as a party. Roiz's law firm Aiman-Smith & Marcy said that under California law, Murthy was the CEO and director of iGate and his actions were the actions of iGate, and iGate too was liable for Murthy's acts. "It is the company's duty to create a safe and secure working environment for the employee. The company can in turn take action against the accused," said Sajai Singh.

In the 2002 case — where Murthy was accused by Reka Maximovitch of sexual harassment when the two were working together in Infosys — it was Infosys that made the $3-million settlement . However, it then said that it would look at claiming some of this from Murthy , but how that went was not made public.